The U.S. Open is typically the biggest
event of
the season for professional and amateur
golfers (and fans) alike. With the 2014
U.S.
Open heading to famed Pinehurst No. 2,
there's
even more buzz surrounding the major
championship.
With a record number of entries, local
qualifying is currently being conducted
throughout the month at courses and
locations
across the nation.
Below is a look at the biggest stories,
qualifiers
and more as 2014 U.S. Open Local
Qualifying
takes center stage in the golfing world.
For a full look at U.S. Open Local
Qualifying,
please use the link at the bottom of the
article.
MAY 19
The final day of local qualifying was a good
one for amateurs.
At the Gibson Bay Golf Club (Richmond, KY)
local qualifying, four amateurs punched their
tickets to sectional play. Daniel McIntyre and
Patric Sundlof shared medalist honors after
shooting 68s.
Zach Morris was one shot back with a 69
while Nicholas Thompson snuck in as the last
qualifier, shooting 70.
At the Old America Golf Club (The Colony,
Tx.) qualifier, Kolton Crawford and Brandon
Smith are moving on. Crawford shot 71
while Smith shot 72. Amateurs Nick
Thornton and Jerry Ruiz will be the
alternates.
MAY 15
Amateurs ruled the day at the Carter
Plantation qualifier in Springfield, La.
Eric Ricard took medalist honors, shooting
71.
He was a shot better than Stephen Wall
and
Jacob Bergeron -- also amateurs. Recent
Coleman Invitational winner Patrick
Christovich
missed the mark by a shot and will serve
as
the first alternate heading into sectional
play.
MAY 14
Longtime competitive mid-amateur Dan
Sullivan
shot 69 to share medalist honors with
three
others at the Newport Beach (Calif.)
Country
Club qualifier. Sullivan joins fellow amateur
Gabriel Armendariz moving past the local
qualifier and into sectional play.
At the Whippoorwill Club (Armonk, N.Y.),
Max
Buckley, a former Southern Methodist
University star, shot 69 to share medalist
honors. Five players in total, including
amater
Brian Williams, shot 69 in the highly-
competitive local qualifier.
Former University of Iowa golfer Luke
MIller
shot 70 and takes one of four sectional
berths
from the Valley Brook Country Club
(McMurray,
Penn.) qualifier. Miller's 70 was good
enough
for second. Fellow amateur Mitch Mercer
shot
72 and will be the second alternate.
MAY 13
Chinas's Zecheng Dou grabbed the final
qualifying spot in the Ironwood Golf Club
(Palm
Desert, Calif.) qualifier. Dou, who took
fourth
place at last year's Asia-Pacific Amateur,
shot
70 while Byron Meth of San Diego shot 68
to
take one of the other four positions.
Cameron Brown and Parker Edens, both
amateurs, shot 70 to share medalist
honors at
the Collindale Golf Club (Fort Collins, Colo.)
qualifier. Edens is a Colorado State golfer.
Brown and Edens were the only amateurs
to
move on to sectional play.
Armstrong's Gus Wagoner and Ben
Wolcott of
Ole Miss are moving on out of the local
qualifier
at The Legends of Chateau Elan
(Braselton,
Ga.). They both shot 71 and will be among
seven moving to sectional qualifying.
Fellow
amateur Bryan Fox of Roswell, Ga. is one
of
the
two alternates from the local qualifer.
At the Crofton (Md.) Country Club qualifier,
talented Virginia mid-amateur Scott
Shingler
took the final qualifying position and will
be
the
lone amateur moving on. He shot 71 and
nipped
fellow amateur Joe Rice and pro Marcus
Manley
for the final sectional berth.
University of Toledo's Otto Black shot a
red-
hot 68 to lead all scorers at the Radrick
Farms
(Ann Arbor, Mich.). The Pinckney, Mich.
resident was three shots better than any
other
player, including Canadian amateur Nic
Powell,
who'll also be moving on with a 71.
Longtime St. Louis-area amateur Skip
Berkmeyer took second place at the
Missouri
Bluffs Golf Club (St. Louis, Mo.) qualifier
and
will advance to the sectional. Berkmeyer
was
one shot back of Chad Saladin, who took
medalist honors. Former UNLV golfer Blake
Biddle shot 71 and will join Berkmeyer as
the
two amateurs advancing.
Missoula, Mont. and University of Michigan
golfer Tom Swanson shot 68 to share
medalist
honors at the Missoula Country Club local
qualifier. He tied pro Wes Heffernan for
the
top
spot. Dylan Stensland, another amateur,
shot
70 and will be the first alternate.
Bobby Leopold of Rhode Island shot 74 to
take
qualifying medalist honors at the Point
Judith
Country Club (Narragansett, R.I.).
Leopold,
who made a name for himself in the
competitive amateur world with a run of
victories over highly-ranked players at the
2011 U.S. Amateur, finished a shot above
fellow amateurs Chris Houston and Greg
Horvath, who'll also be moving on.
MAY 12
At Indian Ridge Country Club's Grove
Course
(Palm Desert, Calif.), David Gazzolo
represented the amateur world well. He
shot
68 to finish second and take one of five
sectional qualifier berths. Gazzolo is a
talented
golfer on the UC Riverside team.
Cody Blick and Matt Hansen took two of
the
five sectional positions at the Ruby Hill Golf
Club (Pleasanton, Calif.) qualifier. Blick,
from
San Jose State, shot 70 to share medalist
honors with Eric Mina. Hansen, from UC
Davis,
shot 71. Kory Storer and recent Alameda
Commuters winner Jonathan De Los Reyes
will
be the alternates.
At Pasatiempo Golf Club (Santa Cruz,
Calif.),
Cory McElyea led all scorers. The
University of
San Francisco senior, of course, reached
last
year's U.S. Open at Merion. Jobim Carlos
of
the
Philippines took second with a 68.
Amateurs ruled the day at the Country
Club of
Farmington (Conn.) qualifier. Clark
Robinson
(66), Christopher Wiatr (69) and John
Vanderlan (69) are all moving on after
solid
play. Robinson is a freshman at Marshall
and
Wiatr plays at UConn.
At Lake Jovita Golf & Country Club (Dade
City,
Fla.), Central Florida star Chase Koepka
led all
scorers. He shot 66 while Richard James
shot
67 to take the top two positions in the
local.
Lakeland's Scott Smyers shot 70 to take
the
final qualifying position.
Northwestern's Jack Perry took co-
medalist
honors at the Knollwood Club (Lake
Forest,
Ill.), shooting 68. Just two shots back in
the
tightly-contested qualifier was top junior
Doug
Ghim, who'll be one of two alternates.
Talk about competition...At the Pinewild
Country Club (Pinehurst, N.C.), qualifier,
four
amateurs found themselves in the mix and
surprisingly, recent Concession Cup team
member Scott Harvey found himself on the
outside looking in. Just a few days after
falling
in a playoff at the Carolinas Open, Harvey
shot
69 and will be alternate. Richard Fountain
of
Davidson shot 66 to take co-medalist
honors
while Carter Jenkins of UNC Greensboro
shot
68
and will also move on.
Coastal Carolina golfer Andrew Dorn, who
last
year won the prestigous North and South
Amateur, shot a red-hot 66 to take
medalist
honors at the Maketewah Country Club
(Cincinnati) qualifier. He was four shots
better
than the runner-up. Will Grimmer, who
made
headlines with a 59 last year at the North
&
South Junior, shot 72 to take the final
qualifying position.
Texas star Kramer Hickock's 68 took
second
place at the Falconhead Golf Club (Austin,
Texas) qualifier. He was one shot back of
Dustin Garza, the medalist. Fellow Texas
Longhorn shot 70 and will be an alternate.
Texas A&M's Andrew Lister shot a
scorching 64 to lead all players at the
Shadow
Hawk Golf Club (Richmond, Texas) local
qualifier.
MAY 9
Wake Forest senior Thomas Birdsey shot a
66
to take co-medalist honors at the River
Landing (Wallace, N.C.) qualifier. Birdsey,
recently named to the All-ACC 1st Team,
was
the only amateur moving on to sectional
qualifying.
MAY 8
Perhaps hoping to add to his impressive
resume, veteran Northern California
amateur
Casey Boyns shot 69 at The Preserve
(Carmel,
Calif.) qualifier to sneak into sectional
play.
Amateur Maverick McNealy shot 68 to
move
on, too, while Nick Moore (70) will be the
alternate.
Former Massachusetts Amateur champion
Brian
Higgins shot 69 to become the lone
amateur
moving forward past the Pinehills Golf Club
(Plymouth, Mass.) qualifier. He tied four
other
players and survived a playoff to sneak
into
the sectional round.
LSU's Smylie Kaufman shot 69 to move
past
the Omaha (Neb.) Country Club qualifier.
He's
joined by Rory Doll and Carson Schaake,
who'll
also be advancing to the sectional
qualifier.
MAY 7
It was another big day on the qualifying
trail.
Former U.S. Walker Cup team member
Blayne
Barber led all scorers at the Timacuan Golf
&
Country Club (Lake Mary, Fla.) qualifier.
Taylor
Funk and Hans Reimers were the two
amateurs
to
sneak into sectional play.
At Fox Hollow Golf Club (Trinity, Fla.),
Virginia
star Jimmy Stanger shot 68 to join Dustin
Dingus
moving on.
Adam Schenk and Keegan Vea shot 68 to
share
medalist honors with Andy Winings at the
Hawthorne Golf & Country Club (Fishers,
Ind.)
qualifier while Talor Gooch, Doug Albers
and
Kevin
Dougherty advanced past the Sycamore
Ridge
Golf Club (Spring Hill, Kan.) qualifier.
Hunter Stewart of Lexington, Ky. out-
classed the field at the Colonial Country
Club
(Memphis, Tenn.) qualifier. Austin Rose
was a
close second and Brandon Caballero will
also
be
advancing.
Former World No. 1 amateur Brady Watt of
Australia (now professional) shot 68 and
tied
amateur Andrew Wyatt at the Odessa (TX)
Country Club local qualifier.
MAY 6
Reigning New England Amateur Evan
Russell,
who
plays at the University of Hartford, shot 70
to
join three professionals moving on at the
Twin
Hills Country Club (Longmeadow, Mass.)
qualifier.
At the Industry Hills Golf Club (City of
Industry,
Calif.) qualifier, two amateurs moved on.
Mark
Anguiano shot 70 while Joshua Shou shot
71.
Aaron Wise was the lone amateur
advancing
past
the Andalusia Country Club (La Quinta,
Calif.)
qualifier. Wise, from Lake Elsinore, Calif.
shot
70.
Amateurs ruled the day at the Blue Top
Ridge
at
Riverside (Iowa) qualifier. Steve Koepke
took
medalist honors and will move on with
Spain's
Scott
Fernandez and Tyler Smith of Iowa.
Amateurs
Alex
Moorman and Raymond Knoll, also
amateurs,
will
serve as the alternates.
MAY 5
Gavin Hall, who participated in last year's
U.S.
Open at Merion, shot 71 to finish second
at
the
Oak Hill Country Club (Rochester, NY) local
qualifier. Hall, a freshman at the University
of
Texas, joined Canada's Chris Hemmerich
as
the
two amateurs advancing past the local
qualifier.
Alabama star Trey Mullinax and Sam Love
of
Alabama-
Birmingham took the top two spots at the
Timberline
Country Club (Calera, Ala.) local qualifier.
The
duo
shared medalist honors after shooting
identical
66s.
AmateurGolf.com members and past Tour
players
Andrew Morgan and Eric Sugimoto were
among
those
moving past the Bermuda Dunes (Calif.)
Country Club
local. Morgan and Sugimoto shot 72 while
Derek
Castillo and recent Palmer Cup U.S. roster
addition
Rico Hoey of USC shot 73.
Junior Ben Doyle, currently the No. 2
player in
the
AmateurGolf.com California Rankings, shot
67
to medal
at the Barona Creek Golf Club (Lakeside,
Calif.)
qualifier.
University of North Florida star M.J.
Maguire
moved
past the Golf Club of North Hampton
(Fernandina
Beach, Fla.) local. He shot 68 and finished
four
shots
behind medalist Kelly Kraft, the former U.S.
Amateur
champion.
Florida State's Hank Lebioda led all
scorers at
the
Orange Tree Golf Club (Orlando, Fla.). He
shot
67 and
was the only amateur moving on.
In Highland, Utah, Zac Blair shot 68 to
share
medalist
honors at the Alpine Country Club. Blair,
the
former
BYU star, has compiled a terrific regional
record in
recent years and could be a major factor
in
the
Sectional qualifier.
MAY 2
Curtis Thompson is the first amateur golfer
to
move onto sectional qualifying. The LSU
star
and two-time Dixie Amateur champion
shot a
red-hot 66 at The Club at Admiral's Cove
in
Jupiter, Fla. on Friday.